Pillow Talk

Pillow Talk

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The owner of the vehicle had a bumper sticker on her car that read “half my heart is in Afghanistan.” She went into a Dunkin' Donuts and when she came back out to her car, there was a note waiting for her under her windshield. For most people, this would mean a parking ticket or pamphlet. Instead, what was left was a touching note, reading as follows:

“I noticed the sticker on the back of your car. Take your hero out to dinner when he comes home. Thank you both for serving. Him deployed and you for waiting.”—United States Veteran, God Bless

Taking such a small action can cause so much good in someone's life. It only took the veteran a couple of minutes to leave the note behind, but it has touched the hearts of thousands and made the day of one military family so much better.

Memorial Day marks the start of summer, so in appreciation to our heroes and their families take 15% off any DownLinens summer blankets. Use code: MEMORIAL2013 at checkout.

Sleep, some of us have a weird relationship with it. Others are fortunate enough to nod off easily as soon as they hit the pillow or any other surface they come in contact with, an airplane seat, a desk etc. I used to be jealous of those people as I typically tossed and turned the night before.

It took me a while to learn that sleep is a deeply personal experience, everyone has a sleeping style that is different from your own.

There are back sleepers, side sleepers or stomach sleepers and one pillow does not fit all. Side sleepers need a firm pillow to keep their body, head and neck aligned. Back sleepers need slightly less firm and stomach sleepers need a soft pillow. I did not have the right bedding conducive to my sleep needs until I got serious about what kind of sleeper I was. I was buying the bedding for the household and I would buy the warmest comforter and two of the same Firm pillows for my husband and me. That was great for my husband who sleeps on his side but for me I sleep on my stomach and was having trouble getting to sleep and when I did finally get to sleep I would wake up with neck pain. Let’s just say I was waking up on the wrong side of the bed more often than not. I started to experiment with different pillows and found that for stomach sleepers like me a soft down pillow that didn't elevate my neck too much off the mattress was the best, plus I could sink my face into soft inviting down and get a good night’s sleep. Next I turned my attention to the comforter it was way too warm for me. Most of the day I walk around feeling colder than most people in restaurants, offices, movie theaters I always have to have a sweater to put on indoors even at the height of summer. I thought this would make me a cold sleeper. It didn't. Turns out I turn into a furnace at night and I am not talking about hot flashes. The comforter was way too warm for me and I would wake up in the middle of the night constantly kicking it off and putting it back on, only to kick it off again. I eventually grew tired of this and finally created the all season down comforter. I tweaked and tweaked until I put in just the right amount of down for warm sleepers like me and was finally able to enjoy a full night’s sleep! Then I went ahead and had a baby, game over.

Now that winter is officially upon us, the holidays will be here in a hot minute. For some of us this season inspires warm fuzzy feelings of taking care of loved ones and cozying up to the fire with a warm (shameless product plug) Downlinens.com throw.

And for the rest of us, this season drives us to drink. If you happen to fall into the latter camp, don’t worry we’ve got your back. Keep in mind that when you do imbibe that while alcohol can help you fall asleep, it doesn’t necessarily help you stay asleep. In fact, studies have shown it can disrupt your sleep cycles. Making the sleep you do get less of the restorative variety, and when you don’t get your beauty sleep it isn’t pretty. Here are some tips to keep you sitting, and sleeping, pretty through the holiday season:

Since alcohol, tends to dry you from the inside out, the more hydration the better. Before you have your drink, take a fish oil supplement or a B12 complex vitamin. This will give you a hydration boost to offset the drying effects of the alcohol. You will look more refreshed than the rest of your drinking partners come morning.

I will go ahead and state the obvious here, clean your face before you turn in, no matter how tempting it is to skip it. Applying a hydrating night cream or serum before hitting the pillow will help you look your best in the morning.

Speaking of your pillow, try a satin pillow case (coming soon to Downlinens.com) which has been reported to help stave off the early onset of wrinkles.

In the morning try and caffeinate, your face that is. Try placing warm green teabags over your eyes for a couple minutes. The enzymes in the tea counteract dark circles and inflammation.

Lastly oversized sunglasses will hide a multitude of sins. Invest in a good pair.

We have all heard the rumor that Turkey makes people sleepy. With thanksgiving coming up we decided to do a little research and see if that is fact or fiction. Studies have shown that while turkey does have tryptophan- an amino acid that helps make serotonin, which then acts as a neurotransmitter, it is not enough to induce sleep in its eaters. So gobble away and enjoy this great desert recipe in the meantime. These pumpkin gingersnap parfaits are the perfect treat for your thanksgiving feast, offering a twist on the traditional pumpkin pie that is easy to make and even easier to eat.

Now we know what your thinking, "is this a new product, like a cloud bed or something?" In short, no its not. This was actually created by a Dutch artist named Berndnaut Smilde. He has developed a way to create a small, perfect white cloud in the middle of a room. Pretty awesome if you ask us... but seriously, maybe this cloud bed idea isn't bad.

As active sleepers, we at DownLinens like to think of ourselves as a connoisseur of sleep. Most people concern themselves with the activities of the day, but give little thought to the major pursuit of the night-namely sleep. We hope to right that oversight and through the course of our posts help the world understand why its important to value a good nights sleep- because surprisingly it is more than sheer laziness.

To us, one of the best feelings in the world is crawling into a soft bed piled high with plush down pillows, wrapping oneself in a large comforter, and drifting off to sleep as the down warms you against those cool East Coast winter nights (or heavily air-conditioned winter night for you West Coasters).

The idea of waking up horrifies us. The second we crawl out of our down fortress we cringe as our feet hit the hardwood floor and the cool air greets our scary morning face. But life goes on and unfortunately, like every working or school going adult, we must begin our day and tackle our responsibilities.

And as if it’s not bad enough to be at work or school, being over-tired and grouchy doesn’t help. (It also spurs those “wow, you looks awful” thoughts that you know are running through your coworkers or classmates' heads as you try and fix your unruly hair) A sure way to avoid that is to make sure you get at least 8 hours of sleep. The truth is, we can't stay young and continuously active forever. Our advice: keep following our official DownLinens blog "Pillow Talk", and keep in touch with our websites updates on new ways to get comfortable. Check out downlinens.com, and be proactive about the most important form of inactivity- sleep!"